An Iowa March --It Was the Day the Pizza Delivery Needed to Stay Home

Official Total --16 inches
Kind of Snow -- Heavy and Wet
Wind -- East at 20 to 25 mph
Date -- March 24, 2017

I had wondered when the first days of March were warm and sunny.  As it seemed to be "coming in as a lamb," would the month "go out like a lion?"  Consider the question answered.

It started snowing about 10 Friday night and ended about 3 Saturday afternoon. The snow was going by horizontally. Drifts?.... You bet!  We have a couple of five footers, some four, and a whole bunch of three foot ones.  As you can see, it will be a while before we can grill. The snow is really heavy.  I'll wait for Mother Nature to diminish it by some melting.  Thanks to daylight savings time and the springtime higher angle of the sun, the shoveled off driveway was almost dry by sunset Saturday.  This morning it is still chilly -- predicted high 33, but it is taking its time getting there. Tomorrow rain!

That's Iowa.

The lake is still frozen although the area of open water now stretches out several hundred feet from city sea wall and around past South Shore Inn. The remaining ice was turning black at the end of last week. Hard to tell now that it is covered with snow.  I sure wouldn't be walking out on it.

As every Iowan knows that you don't wait until the snow stops before clearing walks and driveways.  We were out shoveling four times. So... what's a person to eat in between rounds of shoveling?

I pulled an old family favorite recipe and made it with refrigerator basics. Usually served on toasted English muffin halves, foolishly I hadn't quite believed the forecast for a foot plus, so had to make do with hamburger buns.  Still mighty tasty!

In a Pinch Pizza

8 ounces grated cheddar cheese
8 slices of crispy cooked bacon, crumbled or chopped
24 pimento filled olives, sliced
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
8 English muffins split in half and toasted

Combine the cheese, bacon, olives and mayonnaise. Lightly toast English muffin halves. Spread the mixture on the muffins and run under the broiler until the mixture bubbles.

NOTE: You can add more or less bacon or olives depending on what you have and what you like. Leftover mixture can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.

And if you missed CBS Sunday Morning's coverage of the Color the Wind Kite Festival aired this morning, here's the link. https://www.cbsnews.com/video/go-fly-a-kite/


Copyright 2018  All rights reserved, Rae Katherine Eighmey

Images of Two March Days and Irish Soda Bread

Last Year -- March 7, 2017

This morning March 16, 2017

Yup! Still a lot of ice. 

Last year, 2017, was one of the shortest ice-ins ever here on North Iowa's Clear Lake. This year has been more normal, at least from an ice perspective. Ice-in was December 8, 2017. This morning there is a wide swath of open water over along the north shore from the sea wall around nearly to the Redstone on North Shore Drive and almost to South Shore Inn on South Shore Drive. We have a stout northeast breeze today and it will be cloudy with some kind of precipitation so probably not a lot of melting will happen. 

Winter started off with a real old fashioned cold snap. Temperatures were down below zero for the highs, not to mention the overnight lows in the minus 20s. We've had more ice storms than I remember from past winters and a few medium-sized snows, a couple of blizzard condition days, and at one point the snow was literally blowing sideways. All in all, not a terrible winter.  Folks who summer up here will have a fair number of sticks and maybe even a few branches to pick up come opening-up weekend. 

To celebrate the possible coming of spring and days ahead when daffodils will finally emerge from what is now solidly frozen ground, OH! and St. Patrick's Day -- here's my favorite Irish Soda Bread. It is the kind of treat that goes well with warm day egg salad to downright cold corned beef! No matter what Mother Nature will bring, it is a bread sure to please. 

The craggy surface of traditional Irish Soda Bread 

is perfect for dunking in gravy or spreading with butter and jam. 

 Rae's Irish Soda Bread

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 cup milk

2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Put the vinegar in a glass measuring cup and add milk to make one cup. Set aside for a couple of minutes until it sours. In a medium mixing bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt if using, and cream of tartar. Pour in about 3/4 cup of the soured milk and mix quickly with a fork. Then begin to knead gently to form a rough, slightly damp dough. You may need to add a bit more milk, a tablespoon at a time. DO NOT OVER KNEAD. This is a roughly textured dough. If you over knead the dough will be tough. Form the dough into a circle about 6-inches in diameter. Flatten to about an inch and a half thick. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. With a serrated knife make an "x" cut almost halfway through the dough. Bake until the bread is browned and sounds hollow when you tap it. Cool before slicing.  

Copyright 2018, Rae Katherine Eighmey. All rights reserved. 

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